The sun was still shining and the walls of Aspiration were shining alongside it. They were recently set up so they were obviously in peak condition. Though thanks to the defensive magic devices these walls could be said to be functioning above and beyond their max.
The warriors that patrolled atop the walls certainly felt it. The process of guarding the walls had eased significantly. The guarding knights were definitely getting more work done now.
The main help was the alert system. It was really just a fancy speaker system. Changing shifts, cracking jokes, everything had become that much easier. It wasn't only this that was improved though.
The base was finally starting to have some human infrastructure. That included a bathroom, toilets being the highlight, and other utilities that relied heavily on infrastructure.
Stuart, Tarin, Bede, and Agalia were now the ones taking charge of the base. They were doing a nice job on making the place more hospitable but they weren't planning on running a city.
"What is the best course of action?" Stuart asked prompting the start of the afternoon meeting.
This was a question worth ruminating over but even before the meeting started, all of them had been making their own conjectures. It was therefore no surprise that he promptly received some replies.
"I firmly believe that we should retreat" Tarin said continuing with his conservative stance.
"Tsk" Bede scoffed at the suggestion but remained silent waiting for Tarin to explain himself.
"The reasons are like this…" Tarin started his explanation rather straightforwardly but everyone still paid close attention. In times of crisis, humanity tended to come together.
Tarin explained that their original intention in setting up Aspiration was simply to avoid being demoted or having their company disbanded entirely. Such being the case, their role was done.
They had already won the war why start fighting new battles? While a complete retreat was entirely inane, passing the base over to adventurers for now and later to another company was the best choice available.
"That was very well-spoken, Tarin" Stuart told the earthen mage who harrumphed coldly.
Of course, it was well-spoken. For the most part, all mages were learned and could read and write. Being well-spoken was not that rare a trait to have under these circumstances.
Saying that was the same as saying nothing and the likelihood of Tarin's stance being dismissed was rather great.
"I believe Tarin is right" The only adventurer in the group, Agalia, to everyone's surprise, spoke up and said.
In Agalia's eyes, the company leaving was better for the adventurers. It was not unusual for areas to be restricted by officials when exploring large dungeons. Usually, the cordoned-off areas were the most dangerous yet rewarding ones.
It just so happened they had a nut job in their party that preferred to tackle such places. People like Wiley were not entirely rare either though. More often than not, adventurers in this world would throw themselves into danger as a way to cope with their situations.
That being said, this wasn't the sole reason. Agalia was also simply tired of Prissy's preaches. The mage had been fed up with the dungeon ever since the weird crypt encounter and of course she as the party leader was the one to suffer.
"I hope you can all think about it " Agalia said finalizing her explanation. Stuart was not convinced but it was now time for Bede's turn. The young man was only in to fill seats.
His ability to think up stuff was not half-bad. Even such an assessment seemed unfair to the boy but his camaraderie and bearing were not befitting a leader.
"Like I said previously, we should have struck while the iron was hot. Right now, we might have already lost our window of chance. Still, I believe we can take down the raid boss" Bede said to open up a long discussion and explanation of various potential results and the different strategies that brought it about.
By the time he was done, Tarin, Agalia, and even Stuart couldn't help but slump into their seats. What the hell was all that jargon!?!
"I think the success rate is not low at all as long as we strike first! Making sure the minions are wiped before ganging up on the boss is the way to go!" Bede said finally concluding his lecture.
"That was… very informational" Stuart felt it might almost be too informational but alas… Bede was still speaking the human language.
"I agree" Stuart had ended up agreeing with the lunatic. But nobody else did. There was no one else to agree.
"Come on Agalia, just join the dark side" Bede said exasperated. Agalia resisted the urge to say 'at least you know' and kept quiet.
"I was afraid it'd come to this…" Stuart said before bringing out a small box. Inside the box was of course an item.
"This is the drop from the orc" Stuart said in continuation. He hadn't opened the box but the three sitting at the table with him took on serious expressions. If it was anything like the alchemical bone from the last time… It was an item worth hundreds of gold coins no doubt!
"We can have a large group escort it out and the rest can plan an attack for upon their return" Stuart said promptly settling the matter. Being the leader especially when it just so happened to turn out that way was exhausting.
Bede, Tarin, and Agalia all knew what was going on but none had any thoughts of going against this command. That was a potentially insanely expensive item.
"The price of the skeleton was already so extravagant…" Agalia muttered audibly. The others couldn't judge her mistake of saying the quiet part out loud. It was what they were thinking too.
"Wait, how will we pick who goes and who stays?" Bede asked after thinking that it seemed as though Stuart would just leave things as they were. The matter was definitely NOT resolved.
Bede had been right so Stuart thought about it for a while before coming up with a criterion.
"Start by the youngest with family" Stuart responded. Bede couldn't help but feel like this was a bad choice yet… it did appear to make sense.
The main question was who was ideal to leave behind to defend the base. The answer seemed to obviously be the most experienced and powerful should stay behind. The younger one was the less likely they'd fall under either category.
Sending these lesser skilled knights alone with something important was not necessarily smart but these were knights not little kids. They were knights in large numbers. If something went wrong it would not be due to their lack of strength.
"Sounds good?" Stuart asked noticing that no one had responded. The other three nodded slowly.
"My party and I will leave alongside them though" They had been instructed by Samuel to gather some information while there but not to force it either. This meant that after the carts were delivered, they could return at any moment.
They failed to send one to base safely but it wasn't like they could take it back. Even if they were, the best place to start was the crypt so following the young knights and mages was ideal.
"I see no problem with that, aaah" Tarin said stretching as he stood from his seat. Bede was unamused but he too stood up. Thinking on the positive side, at least he had plenty of time to hone his strategies.
The four of them dispersed into various sectors of the base. Agalia for example was heading to tell her members of the news while Stuart had to go ahead and prepare the departure of dozens of young people.
***
Ed had combed a large chunk of the area past Sanctuary yet… he had found no humans. He was starting to think he killed them all but simply didn't remember.
Ed did however manage to find some orc settlements. He conquered them with ease but the real issue became making sure they didn't escape after he left. Not just that but they could very well get lost going back to Sanctuary.
Ed thus did what any sensible being with a system does and threw all the orcs into the storeroom and spirit room. He would not claim responsibilities over swapped bodies later on.
'Assessing all of them will be a pain' Ed desperately needed some automation in this direction from the system as well.
'I will not stop until my spirits can obtain commands from my breathing and I can stay there doing nothing else for the rest of eternity' That was the automation standard everyone should be aiming for.
But that was only aiming, Ed had already moved onto finding the humans once more and he did eventually chance upon it.
"Wow, this- this is a lot of progress" Ed thought looking at what appeared to be cement walls. They were definitely tougher than what the orcs of old created for the sacred tribe.
It wasn't just that the walls were better than Ed's, the people atop these walls also appeared to be carrying something around.
'This is frightening' Ed and his orcs could not reach this level with skills alone. They had to learn how to cast spells and form a civilization out of it. Ed suspected that many humans couldn't either but that was what made them so fearsome.
With the sheer number of humans, Ed was starting to ask himself if he had enough lives.